NINE MASTS CAPITAL Ltd Invests $2.68 Million in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

NINE MASTS CAPITAL Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 50,521 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,678,000. Viking Therapeutics comprises about 0.8% of NINE MASTS CAPITAL Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VKTX. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth approximately $294,380,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 44.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,785,724 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $638,429,000 after buying an additional 2,403,820 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at approximately $78,586,000. Hood River Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at approximately $55,098,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,341,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 11.3 %

Shares of VKTX stock opened at $60.83 on Thursday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $8.28 and a 12-month high of $99.41. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $57.44 and a 200-day moving average of $63.89. The company has a market capitalization of $6.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -65.41 and a beta of 1.00.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.19) EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total transaction of $1,029,825.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 362,149 shares in the company, valued at $20,689,572.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total transaction of $1,029,825.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 362,149 shares in the company, valued at $20,689,572.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total transaction of $1,195,818.58. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $546,535. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 290,241 shares of company stock worth $17,786,475. 4.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Profile

Viking Therapeutics, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development of novel therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders. The company's lead drug candidate is VK2809, an orally available tissue and receptor-subtype selective agonist of the thyroid hormone receptor beta (TRß), which is in Phase IIb clinical trials to treat patients with biopsy-confirmed non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, as well as NAFLD.